Posted Tue Jan 3, 2006, 11:50am Subject: Re: Newbie thinking of a Silvia, can it work with a Capresso Infinity grinder?

spkrgeek Said:

Well, I guess that means that I'll be waiting a while for the Silvia. Right now my little Briel pump is putting out shots that are probably about as good as I could get with the Gaggia, and it seems to work nicely with the Infinity on the second finest "fine" setting.

I'll be waiting until I can convince the wife that it's worthwhile to get both the Silvia and a nice grinder like a Rocky or Tranquillo or something. I'm fine with the idea of two grinders, one for drip/press and one for espresso, but she remains unconvinced!

Silvia is fairly pricey for a single boiler machine. Have you considered alternatives within your budget? Value-conscious CGers often recommend pairing a $200 Gaggia Espresso or Carezza with a $200 Cunill Tranquilo grinder, for less than the price of a Silvia alone. That should give you better results than Silvia+Infinity, and undoubtedly better than Briel+Infinity.

AFAIK most Briels have noncommercial portafilters with pressurized filter baskets. Gaggias, with beefy 58mm commercial portafilters, should give you a noticeable step up in espresso quality.

Posted Sat Nov 3, 2012, 7:44pm Subject: Re: Newbie thinking of a Silvia, can it work with a Capresso Infinity grinder?

Hi Spkrgeek,

I will be posting my PID'd Silvia and Rocky Doserless that I have for sale in the classifieds section shortly. If you are looking to make the jump, maybe we can work out a deal. If you are interested, I would be glad to send pics.

Many people use commercial grinders without hoppers. With the Mazzer SJ, you pour enough beans for one shot and then add a tamper to prevent the beans from flying out. If you can make the Tranquillo work for you, commercial grinders are the way to go.

The beef against the Infinity grinder is that some Infinities can grind fine enough for espresso and some can't. Luck of the draw. The Infinity is stepped, but there is enough friction so that you could do fractional steps like 3 1/2. I used an Infinity for my Gaggia until I upgraded to a Mazzer SJ. Sort of comical, my grinder cost 10x the espresso machine.

Posted Sun Nov 25, 2012, 8:35pm Subject: Re: Newbie thinking of a Silvia, can it work with a Capresso Infinity grinder?

I can't fully agree with Slider. I am certain that you'll be happier with an excellent grinder accompanying your brewer, but that with a little practice tamping different amounts of grounds you can find a totally drinkable expresso with the Infinity grinder set to the coarser side of "Very fine" with any decent espresso bean. None of the littler Capresso grinders with the disk burrs, but the infinity with its conical burr, vertical grind set-up is decently adjustable for it's size and price. You can, of course, grind with the adjuster in-between detents, to more finely adjust, but the freshness of the beans and practice with the new brewer are going to be more important than actually making your imfinity more finely adjustable. If you're familiar with the three-ball spring loaded clutch of the lower burr on that grinder, and are clever with a torque wrench, you can adjust it to permanently detent to your favored position.Your issue should be that it's plastic. Coffeegeeks aren't supposed to have plastic equipment. :)

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